So I have a 6th generation iPad 32GB. I think I bought it in the spring of 2020. It’s been working great, no issues, battery life still excellent, runs all day with heavy use. Always treated well, looks like new. The other day the battery was down to 20%, so I plugged it in and went shopping. When I got back, the iPad was off. I tried to turn it on. Nothing. Just dead. Started looking online and tried everything from home button and power button to plugging it into the computer with iTunes, tapping the back and front. Still nothing. I made an appointment with the Apple Store. They looked at it, ran diagnostics, or the lack of, since it was dead there as well. They said it’s not the battery, because otherwise the iPad would have responded to their tests. The guy said it’s probably a manufacturing defect, and so sorry, outside of the warranty, can’t do anything. A replacement 6th gen would be $249. I said no thanks, got a 9th gen 64GB from Best Buy and price matched to Microcenter. It ended up being $10 more for a new iPad with double the capacity. I was pretty upset though, because I had never been let down by any of my Apple products. At least not just two years after purchase. So I set up my new iPad, and in the meantime was following the thread on Slickdeals on this iPad deal where I also mentioned my iPad problem. Someone there replied and said that they heated up their iPad, and that got it working again. I thought to myself, ok, nothing to lose, give it a try. So I placed it on top of a oil type electric radiator. After quite a while, maybe 20 or 30 minutes, I picked it up again. It was really hot. Tried to turn it on, nothing, tried to turn it on with the power and home button, and there you go, it booted up like nothing ever happened. It’s been working for a few days again now with no issues. I’m wondering what happened. My only guess is that some soldering connection on a circuit board had a tiny crack, and the heat sort of re-soldered it. Anyone have this experience before? I mostly am just putting this here in case someone else has a dead iPad, this method is at least worth a try before you give up on it.
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iPad Broken iPad fixed by heating it up.
- Thread starter michi098
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It is possible that heating up your iPad was able to fix the issue you were experiencing. However, it is not recommended to use this method as a long-term solution.
Exposing electronic devices to high temperatures can cause a variety of problems, such as damaging internal components or reducing the overall lifespan of the device. It is always best to follow the manufacturer's instructions when it comes to repairing or maintaining your electronic devices.
If your iPad is still under warranty, it is worth contacting Apple to see if they can provide a repair or replacement for you. If your iPad is no longer under warranty, it may still be possible to have it repaired by a third-party repair shop, although this may not be covered by the manufacturer's warranty.
In general, it is important to take care of your electronic devices and to follow the manufacturer's recommendations for use and maintenance. While it may be tempting to try DIY fixes for issues like a dead iPad, these methods can often do more harm than good in the long run.
Did you even read what the OP said?
With the lithium battery, I wouldn't have taken the risk of heating up the iPad. It's good that you were lucky and your iPad was fixed.
Worst case scenario, the battery could have exploded or burst into flames injuring you or causing other damage.
Worst case scenario, the battery could have exploded or burst into flames injuring you or causing other damage.
Sounds like you reflowed the solder on the surface mount chips. Take care if you do it again as the battery may not respond favorably.
Yeah, I thought about that. I had it in the middle of a room with a tile floor and wasn’t far away from it. Although, I don’t think it was much hotter than maybe 120F. Just like a summer day in Phoenix, Arizona... But that’s definitely something to keep in mind if someone else is thinking about trying that.
Fixed a MacBook Pro 17” like that once - I too had heard or read it somewhere. Tried it and the thing still works to this day. Weird.
So you returned the newly purchased iPad ? Also go back so the Apple Store can run A free battery diagnostic.
Yeah they didn’t put it in a toaster oven on broil, 120f isn’t any hotter than it would get left in the car on a hot day. That said, it’s a great time to run diagnostics to see if you can figure out what the original problem is/was. I highly doubt 120F is hot enough to reflow solder in any meaningful way, if it was, you’d see pools of solder underneath cars during heat waves in Arizona.
Heat is actually worse. But it can change how the device operates more drastically, apparently even making an iPad return from the dead.
Try that with cold.
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Other people have used hair dryers for the same issue - check the comments section -
Here's an example of someone curing a screen issue by bending the case -
Here's an example of someone curing a screen issue by bending the case -
What happened??
I have a 2017 MBP which notoriously has and had a wide range of the most ridiculous problems.
I hope not to need to do some like that but…
Tin whiskers?
Common problem with lead free solder if not properly mitigated. You can thank the EU for RoHS compliance.
Common problem with lead free solder if not properly mitigated. You can thank the EU for RoHS compliance.
I’ve done it a few times on my MacBook Pro 17”. Bad solder on the graphics chipset would cause kernel panics if it switched to integrated graphics. I took the time to pull the logic board out and lightly bake it.
That said, 120F would be way too low to do anything to solder. Some capacitors can react to high temperatures, so I could see a bad capacitor getting a bit more life from a dose of heat maybe. Thermal expansion of various components might also restore enough of a connection on a loose component.
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I can’t remember to be honest. It was years ago. I just couldn’t turn on the machine properly - the display at least. I could log in through some rdp app I used and when I did I had a striped display like there was a problem with the video card. Essentially it worked but wasn’t able to display anything.
Then I read that the video card had problems and a few weird threads suggested it. So I plugged it in and wrapped it in blankets and put it in the airing cupboard on the water heater for 24 hours or so. The machine was dead and roasting hot when I recovered it. I thought it was ruined. But I left it for a few days and when I tried it - it worked. And it still does now.
Good to know, thanks. I hope never having to do that but who knows with the 2016-2019 models 🤷🏻♂️
Maybe that’s why the fans barely did much of anything on those MacBooks? To keep it at a comfy temperature for stuff to break less
As long as Apple doesn’t add heat treatment to their troubleshooting guide. That’d be as ridiculous as instructing users to drop their desktop Macs to temporarily fix a “bad” connection…
Cube anyone?